At Least 34 Dead as Protests Sweep Syria on 'Freedom Friday'

Syrian security forces on Friday shot dead at least 34 people, including a child, as pro-democracy protests swept the country, with demonstrators pressing on with calls for more freedom in defiance of a fierce crackdown, activists said.

The child was among 12 people killed in the central city of Homs while 15 died in the town of Maaret al-Naaman, near the western city of Idlib, the activists said.

They said security forces also killed two people in the southern region of Daraa, epicenter of protests that have gripped Syria since March 15, one in Daraya, a suburb of Damascus, another in the port city of Latakia, two in the eastern town of Deir Ezzor and one in the central town of Hama.

Another activist in Homs reported that security services stormed a local hospital and removed several wounded along with the body of a victim.

Meanwhile, state television blamed the violence on armed gangs who reportedly opened fire on civilians and security forces in the region of Idlib and on the outskirts of Homs, killing and wounding an unspecified number of people.

Protests were also held in other regions, including the coastal city of Banias where a witness said security forces fired shots to disperse the crowd. It was unclear if there were any casualties.

A militant reported that a demonstration was held outside a mosque in central Damascus but it was quickly dispersed by the security forces.

However, the Syrian Revolution 2011, a Facebook group that has been a driving force behind the protests, reported demonstrations in the Damascus neighborhoods of al-Midan, al-Qadam, Bab Sreijeh, Qabr Atika, al-Zahera, Baraza, Rukneddine and al-Qaboun.

In the Deir Ezzor Governorate city of al-Boukamal, residents torched the main governorate building and freed the prisoners, the group reported.

It also reported that security forces and shabbiha (regime agents) were encircling the Hama neighborhood of al-Hamidiyyeh.

In Ain Arab, a mainly Kurdish region near the northern city of Aleppo, hundreds took to the streets holding olive branches and chanting, "No to violence, yes to dialogue" and "We are not Islamists or Salafists, we want freedom," said Radif Mustafa, head of a Kurdish rights group reached by telephone.

"No one is calling for the downfall of the regime," he said, as the demonstrators could be overheard shouting, "azadi, azadi," or freedom in Kurdish.

In Banias, thousands of men, women and children marched, with many of the men bare-chested to show proof they were unarmed, Rami Abdul Rahman, of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Agence France Presse.

Hassan Berro, an activist, said protests took place in several towns and villages in the northeast of the country, including Qamishli, Amuda and Derbasiyeh. Several arrests were reported in Qamishli.

Crucially, both Damascus and Aleppo have so far been largely spared the unrest and it is widely believed that should massive demonstrations begin there that would mark a serious setback for the regime.

In a keynote speech on Thursday on the Middle East, U.S. President Barack Obama urged Assad, who is facing the greatest challenge to his 11-year rule, to lead a political transition or "get out."

"President Assad now has a choice," Obama said in his speech. "He can lead that transition or get out of the way.

"The Syrian government must stop shooting demonstrators and allow peaceful protests."

Damascus, however, defiantly rejected the warning, countering that Obama's appeal was not aimed at easing tensions in Syria but rather at sowing discord.

"Obama is inciting violence when he says that Assad and his regime will face challenges from the inside and will be isolated on the outside if he fails to adopt democratic reforms," the official news agency SANA said.

The government newspaper Al-Thawra also criticized the U.S. president saying: "He (Obama) didn't forget his arrogance in telling a sovereign country what to do ... and threatening to isolate this country if it fails to do as told."

More than 850 people have been killed and thousands arrested since the protests began in mid-March, according to human rights groups and the United Nations.

Assad's government has blamed the violence on "armed terrorist gangs" backed by Islamists and foreign agitators.

A confident Assad earlier this week said he believes the unrest was coming to an end and, in an unusual step, acknowledged wrongdoing by the country's security services.

The protests have posed the greatest challenge to nearly five decades of rule by his Baath party.

Syrian television on Friday ran continuous reports from across the country, showing gatherings but underplaying their significance and insisting there was no violence or clashes with security forces.

Western powers initially were hesitant to criticize Assad's regime due to Syria's strategic importance in the region and fears of possible civil war if the regime were to collapse.

The UN refugee agency said Friday that some 1,400 Syrians had fled into neighbouring Lebanon last week to escape the violence.

"Most of the people who have crossed the border in recent weeks are women and children, UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said in Geneva. "In addition to their immediate need for food, shelter and medical help, they also need psycho-social support."